KUCHING: Yevgeniy Fedorov of Vino-Astana Motors clinched a thrilling victory in the opening stage of the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) in Kuching, today.
Fedorov (Kazakhstan) completed the 85.6km course around Kuching in a time of one hour, 51 minutes and one second.
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn of the Thailand came in a close second (+3 seconds) while Team Sapura Cycling's Ahmet Orken (+1:17s), who was in the chasing group, completed the podium.
Fedorov had attacked early and was soon joined by Thurakit roughly 30km into the race. The duo worked together, and at one point led by five and a half minutes.
The short stage coupled with the tight route around the Kuching city centre made it tough for the chasing peloton to reel in the duo with the numerous corners forcing the big group to slow down.
Fedorov's win thus sees him taking charge of three jerseys - PETRONAS yellow (general classification), PETRONAS green (point classification) and white (Asian classifications) jerseys.